Junior School

Junior

SCHOOL REPORT

The past two sessions at St Margaret’s have very much been shaped by the presence of Covid. I do, however, feel that the session of 2021-2022 should be labelled as the session in which, still in small print, we could start to say ‘We are back’. Yes there were still many measures in place to keep us safe and, unfortunately throughout the year many of our pupils and staff were to experience the impact of Covid on their lives, but in true St Margaret’s spirit we all worked hard to ensure that ‘normal service’ was resumed as much as possible.

We were able to start the year with everyone back at school, and we were delighted to welcome Mrs Mel Binfield onto our staff. She joined us as our 2 Junior teacher and very quickly she became a part of our team delivering great learning experiences for her pupils. Our curriculum evenings went online and were a lovely way for our teachers and parents to meet. We are fortunate to have the technology at hand to allow these positive interactions and our parents’ evenings later in the year were also held online and remotely allowing us the opportunity to meet with parents at a time when they were still unable to come into school.

During the first term we made great use of our outdoor space and welcomed some visitors into school to enrich our learning experiences. 7 Junior were able to take part in the team building workshops run by the Royal Navy. The girls enjoyed working together, developing both their teamwork and engineering skills. 5 Junior and 7 Junior were able to meet with Judy Murray when she visited in October. They enjoyed their interactive session and the opportunity to ask questions. 6 Junior once again took part in the local Victorian trails and all of our younger girls enjoyed their regular programme of outdoor learning activities, both in the playground and in the local area. 7 Junior took part in the Blessing of the Crib at St Nicholas Kirkyard. Being part of all of these events helped us all to feel life was returning to normal.

During the first term we celebrated our usual whole school events, albeit in a different way. Our harvest celebration saw us providing food items for the local Cyrenians charity and again this year our families’ generosity was fabulous. At a time when life was tough for so many in our local community, we were able to help others. The junior school and nursery pupils worked together to produce a large poster expressing our harvest thanks and this was displayed proudly in the junior school corridor as a reminder of how fortunate we all are and also as an example of how good it is to work together. Our 7 Junior pupils led our online Remembrance Assembly where they retold the story of Poppy Scotland, and recited ‘In Flanders Fields.’ With their teacher Mrs Gerbrandy, they also raised money for the poppy appeal by baking and selling cupcakes to their families. Later in the term, we again placed the junior school Christmas tree in the playground and the girls decorated it with hand made natural craft items. It was wonderful to look into the gloomy playground throughout those short December days and see the lights twinkling on the tree. We were still not able to invite our parents into school but we were able to welcome two very special visitors to see our tree. On the last day of term we were visited by two donkeys and the characters from the nativity story, who looked very like our head girl team. We all gathered around the tree to welcome our visitors and also to take the opportunity to sing Christmas songs together. It was a wonderful finale to another successful term and a lovely surprise for our pupils.

In December, Mrs Gregory, one of our classroom assistants, retired. Mrs Gregory was a really valued member of staff and we were all very sorry to see her go. She has been such an important part of the lives of many of our girls and many of them have such fond memories of her help in the classroom, her support at Big Sisters’ Club and her encouragement when away on a residential trip. In the new year, we were pleased to welcome Mrs Lesley Dillon to our team as our new classroom assistant. Mrs Dillon joined us from our nursery and so had the advantage of already knowing the staff and quite a number of our girls. Very quickly Mrs Dillon settled into her new role and continues to make a positive contribution to our school.

Rehearsals for the Junior Show Club presentation in May began in January. We were hopeful this would take place in the Lemon Tree theatre in front of a live audience. The girls were very excited when Miss Syme and Mr Mazur announced the show would be ‘Matilda Junior’ and within the junior school we all quickly became used to hearing the songs being rehearsed at club, in music and drama lessons and regularly in the playground. It was all shaping up to be a fabulous show, but before that we had the 7 Junior Shakespeare performance to enjoy. Unfortunately for the 7 Junior girls at the time of their show audiences were still not allowed in the theatre so the girls had to record their performance at The Lemon Tree. Under the guidance of Mrs Goodwin, they gave a stunning performance of Macbeth and whilst it would have been great to be there with them in the theatre in some ways

the recorded performance was even more powerful. It always amazes me that our girls are able to give such amazing performances of these classic texts and it is wonderful to see their confidence and enthusiasm for theatre and Shakespeare develop throughout the rehearsal process. These opportunities give our pupils the chance to develop so many skills and we are fortunate to have excellent teachers to provide these learning opportunities. These events become cherished memories for them all.

Many more wonderful memories were made by our Show Club girls. The show in May was a great success and was indeed held in front of a live audience at The Lemon Tree. Matilda is a lively, uplifting show with so many great songs and touching moments and the girls were all superstars. They all gave such excellent performances and Miss Syme and Mr Mazur are to be congratulated on all they achieved with the cast.

In June we celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The Junior school led a whole school assembly where each year group researched a different decade of the Queen’s reign and it was surprising the facts the girls were able to share. They also very much enjoyed hearing from a former pupil about her experiences as a pupil at the time of the coronation. It was wonderful to see the history of St Margaret’s being shared and the sense of community across the years was evident. Each class had also created a special jubilee craft which were then put together to create a stunning jubilee display. We also gathered in our outside space and shared in a special jubilee picnic lunch as well as taking part in playground games taken from each decade of the Queen’s reign. This showed what variety there was, and also how they are enjoyed by pupils today just as they were many years ago.

During the summer term, as well as all the local outdoor learning opportunities experienced by all of our girls – trips to the Maritime Museum, trips to the Science Centre, trips to Cove beach and Doonies Farm to mention a few, 6 Junior and 7 Junior were once again able to take part in their residential trip to Dalguise and the girls certainly enjoyed and made the most of all the great outdoor learning opportunities this trip offered. Mrs Gerbrandy, Mrs Dillon, Miss Pirie and I were so impressed by the girls’ enthusiasm and engagement with all of the activities.

It was also wonderful to be able to experience the junior school beach clean altogether, rather than in individual year groups and the sun very kindly shone for us too. We are so fortunate to have such brilliant locations on our doorstep and it is good to raise the girls’ awareness of the needs of our local environment, as well as taking enjoyment in it. Sports Day was another glorious day, celebrating sporting prowess and also team spirit and shared enjoyment in taking part in races and winning house points for our houses, creating great memories and cementing our community spirit as family and friends were able to share in the fun.

As we headed towards the end of term we were all looking forward to being able to take part in the traditional end of year events. It was refreshing to be able to invite family and friends into school again for our 1-4 Junior celebration. Our girls rose to the challenge of singing and sharing their learning with their audience. Similarly it was great to see the older junior girls taking part in our speech day ceremony to mark the end of the year. These events are so special, so meaningful and are part of our St Margaret’s tradition, so to be back to normal for them was indeed very special and such a great way to finish the year.

As you can see it has been a year full of great events and super learning for all of our girls. This would not be possible without the professionalism and enthusiasm of the teaching and support staff and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for all of their hard work over this session. Throughout this year, due to staff illness, we have needed to call upon other staff members and I am very grateful to Mrs Shedden, Mrs Evans, Miss Scott and Mrs Grigas for helping us in our classrooms. I would also like to thank Mrs Cameron and Miss Pirie for helping out as classroom assistants during this session. As ever I am so grateful for the support and enthusiasm of our parents and for the hard work, enthusiasm and sheer joy which our pupils bring into school each day. Those sunny smiles and enthusiasm for learning are what makes St Margaret’s such a great place to be and what ensures that great learning is taking place throughout the school. As I said at the start it has been good to get back to normal and let us hope the new session continues to be a normal one – but one in which we all continue to do extraordinary things and continue to develop into extraordinary people.

Norma Murray Head of Junior School